Jangan tangguk di air keruh - Ingatan Pemuda, pemimpin UMNO kepada Tengku Razaleigh - Utusan

Oleh Hamden Ramli

KUALA LUMPUR 21 Mac – Pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO hari ini menyifatkan langkah Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah untuk bertanding jawatan presiden parti itu sebagai satu usaha ‘menangguk di air keruh’.

Mereka juga menganggap tindakan bekas Menteri Kewangan tersebut sebagai tidak sesuai pada masanya ketika UMNO dan Barisan Nasional (BN) sedang berusaha mengukuhkan semula kedudukan selepas Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-12.

Pandangan paling lantang disuarakan oleh Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein yang mempertikaikan keikhlasan hasrat bekas Presiden Parti Melayu Semangat 46 (S46) itu.

Sambil menentang sebarang cubaan untuk mencabar kepimpinan presiden parti, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Hishammuddin menegaskan tindakan Tengku Razaleigh umpama ‘menangguk di air yang keruh’.

‘‘Saya tak setuju langsung apatah lagi dalam keadaan semua pihak telah menyatakan sokongan kepada pucuk pimpinan untuk merapatkan barisan, membina semula parti dan memberi semangat kepada ahli-ahli.

[More at http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=0322&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Muka%5FHadapan&pg=mh_01.htm]

Penang nasi kandar business plummets after SMS called for boycott - NST

By : Melissa Darlyne Chow

SEBERANG JAYA, Fri:

A malicious SMS spreading around Penang, urging Penangites to boycott their favourite nasi kandar stalls and restaurants, have caused business in the state to plummet. The SMS had accused nasi kandar operators of backing Umno’s illegal gathering to protest the Penang Government’s move not to carry out the New Economic Policy.

Malaysia Muslim Restaurant Operators Association president Sihabutheen Sirudu Mohamad said today members' businesses had been badly affected by the SMS.

The public, he said, had the wrong information by claiming that nasi kandar restaurant workers were involved in the illegal gathering.

"We lost customers, most notably the Chinese,” he said. "I hope the public will not believe in such rumours being spread by those who are irresponsible."

Meanwhile, the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) denied urging the boycott, condemning those responsible for trying to take advantage and accusing the organisation of spreading the boycott call.

Hindraf national coordinator R. S. Thainenthiran told a press conference today that the irresponsible act had led to a decline in the nasi kandar restaurant business in the state.

[More at http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/Frontpage/20080321180934/Article]

'Projects should be awarded via open tenders' - The Star

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi should ensure that all projects are awarded through open tenders, MCA Education Bureau chief Senator Datuk Lee Sing Chooi said.

Lee said that projects should be implemented with transparency and not just given to those who are "influential and powerful".

"This will be one of the effective ways to fight corrupt practices and corruption of all forms.

"It is time for the new administration to live out the call of staying away from corruption, serve with integrity and dignity. The 2008 election result is a wake-up call for Barisan Nasional to review and re-engineer itself to stay relevant," he said in a press statement.

Lee added that the previous practice of squabbling for projects by those in power for personal gains had been "rejected by the voters".

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20080321163424&sec=nation]

Hindraf: Don’t boycott nasi kandar - The Star

BUTTERWORTH: Penangites should stop boycotting nasi kandar, said Hindraf coordinator R.S. Thanenthiran.

The boycott apparently took effect following the circulation of an SMS alleging that nasi kandar operators were involved in last Friday’s street protest at Komtar.

Thanenthiran said the allegation was baseless and Hindraf did not issue any such statement or SMS.

“This is an act by some irresponsible parties,” Thanenthiran told a press conference Friday.

The SMS calling for a boycott of nasi kandar ended with the Hindraf slogan Makkal Sakthi (People’s Power), he said.

“People who received the SMS were misled into thinking that it was Hindraf who had sent the SMS but we did not.”

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20080321153037&sec=nation]

Selangor exco will not have Deputy MB post - The Star

By Loong Meng Yee

PETALING JAYA: There will be no Deputy Selangor Mentri Besar post under a revised executive council (exco) distribution formula that will see DAP’s allocation reduced from four to three.

One of the three DAP exco members would be appointed senior exco member tasked with overseeing investments.

Under the original 6+4 formula, PKR and PAS are to share six seats with the DAP getting four.

With the revised one, party sources said the distribution would either be 4+3+3 (PKR/PAS/DAP respectively) or 5+2+3.

It is understood, that if the senior exco member suggestion materialises, the position would go to Kinrara assemblyman Teresa Kok whom the DAP had endorsed to be Deputy Mentri Besar.

While reasons for the last-minute redistribution of exco seats were unclear, The Star learnt that top leaders of the three parties were engaged in intense negotiations, right up to dawn, in the past few days.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20715196&sec=nation]

DAP looking at cooperation with PKR and PAS - The Star

IPOH: DAP is looking into cooperating with Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and PAS, said its adviser Lim Kit Siang.

He said it was agreed among the three parties that cooperation was something to be looked into following the results of the -general election.

“The leaders of DAP, PKR and PAS met on Tuesday night and we agreed that the results of the elections show a very clear message that there is (need for) some form of cooperation.

“And we are looking into the matter,” Lim, who is also Ipoh Timor MP, told reporters after visiting the wholesale market in Kuala Pari here yesterday.

He said although there had been no cooperation whatsoever between DAP and PAS before the March 8 election, it was something that both parties needed to look into to carry out the mandate given by the people.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20715731&sec=nation]

Talk rife Serian MP may quit SUPP - The Star

By Jack Wong

KUCHING: Talk is rife that long-serving Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) Serian MP Datuk Richard Riot Jaem will quit the party after he was not appointed to the Federal administration.

His supporters, mostly Bidayuhs, were said to be upset, blaming the party for not recommending Jaem for a post.

He is SUPP Serian branch chairman and the only non-Chinese the party fielded in the polls.

SUPP president Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam denied that Jaem had resigned from the party as reported by an online portal.

Dr Chan said the party had recommended to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to appoint Jaem as a parliamentary secretary. Abdullah has done away with parliamentary secretaries in the new Cabinet line-up.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20716861&sec=nation]

Penang CM at Maulidur Rasul function - The Star

PENANG: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and two DAP exco members attended the state-level Maulidur Rasul celebrations at the Seberang Jaya expo site here yesterday.

He said he was glad he was able to attend the function, which was attended by about 3,000 Muslims.

“I understand this is the first time a Penang Chief Minister is attending this celebration,” he told reporters covering the event.

Lim said he had sought advice from Deputy Chief Minister I Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin, state Mufti Datuk Hassan Ahmad, PAS and PKR leaders on his attendance and was told he could do so.

He said he was willing to attend other religious festivals if invited, noting that the state government respected all religions.

Besides Lim and Mohammad Fairus, the exco members were Lim Hock Seng and Phee Boon Poh.

[More at http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/3/21/nation/20713137&sec=nation]